Uber, Carnegie Mellon partnering on driverless car research

PITTSBURGH — Ride-sharing service Uber is partnering with Carnegie Mellon University on a Pittsburgh research lab both hope could lead to the development of driverless cars.

Carnegie Mellon and its Robotics Institute have been working on driverless vehicles for years, and its work is part of the reason the city has successfully segued from an industry-driven economy to one based on technology and medicine in the last 20 years.

San Francisco-based Uber said the Uber Advanced Technologies Center will also focus on mapping and safety technologies in support of its ride-sharing mission. The partnership announced Monday includes Uber funding for faculty chairs and graduate fellowships at the private research university.

The lab to be built near CMU's National Robotics Engineering Center will occupy part of two buildings, including a former chocolate factory.

Uber's lets passengers use smartphone apps to hail rides from drivers who use their own vehicles.

Carnegie Mellon has partnered with search engine giant Google, which opened offices in the city in 2006, and in 2007 won a $2 million prize by helping General Motors develop a driverless SUV that won a 60-mile race sponsored by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.

"We said, 'Hey, who are the best in the world at this from an academics standpoint and bringing this kind of technology into the real world?'" said Jeff Holden, Uber's chief product officer. "And CMU is at the top of that list. So that's what started it and why we reached out."

Uber operates in 200 cities in 54 countries, including Pittsburgh, Harrisburg and the Lehigh Valley. Last week, the state Public Utility Commission granted Uber a two-year experimental license to operate everywhere in Pennsylvania, except Philadelphia.